Commodity watch by UFU policy officer David McClure
2022 continues to be a period of unprecedented financial pressure for Northern Ireland (NI) pig producers. As such, the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) pork and bacon committee have been extremely active in pursuing the best interests of all pig farming members.
A period of sustained lobbying with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) resulted in the launch of a support scheme to give assistance to those farmers who were forced to endure penalties for pigs processed during a time of backlog on farms. These losses were incurred over a six-month period at the end of 2021 and beginning of 2022. Our members were forced to take hefty deductions in their cheques for pigs that subsequently fell out of specification or suffered deductions due to being processed outside normal working hours.
The UFU pork and bacon committee representatives were instrumental in ensuring DAERA appreciated the seriousness of losses endured, and as a result, were pleased to see the scheme launch earlier this week, which is worth up to £2m to the industry. The committee encourage all eligible members to complete their application online in a timely fashion to ensure rapid deployment of these much-needed funds.
However, unfortunately this support scheme launched by DAERA does not stretch the great lengths needed to cover the huge losses that continue to be sustained daily on members’ farms. Market volatility since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine has driven production costs well beyond levels ever seen before. Soaring feed and energy prices now mean that farms continue to lose £30-£50 for every pig produced. A rapid correction in the market price paid is urgently needed.
UFU pork and bacon representatives have been tirelessly engaging with figures at all levels within the industry. Continual meetings with all processors and robust discussions with specific retailers who initially appeared to be less engaged, have eventually started to show some willingness to invest in the sector and help guarantee the security of British pork in the coming months. The effects of the most recently announced financial commitments by some retailers have not yet filtered back to the primary producer and it is perhaps reasonable that we should see some effects by early next week. Whilst the detail of these commitments recently published in the press remains unknown, the retailers can be assured that unless these words translate into a meaningful immediate increase in the price received by farmers to a level which covers the cost of production, then they continue to gamble with the availability of British pork on their shelves. Some signs do point towards a shortage of pork products in the near future and the UFU have highlighted this to our retailer and processor contacts.
The degree of price improvement to the farmer is a constant focus of the UFU and remains as a primary area of work for our office bearer team. Our work will continue in the coming days and weeks to ensure that the farmer receives the full share of these financial commitments which have been made by the retailers and hold to account any party which fails to deliver on their promised actions. Furthermore, if these headline figures do not deliver a suitable base in the market price, the UFU will continue to press for further financial commitment to ensure that the NI pig industry can look forward to a brighter future.
